smoke and mirrors
by captianfreedomreader
Summary: Nightwing is kidnapped and turns up a few days later with nothing to say literally I uploaded this a little while ago and frogot to edit it so I took it of and finally got done today yep I take forever
1. Chapter 1

Dick's heart beat frantically. He was running through the dark, unsure where he was going. His captors were closing in and he knew he had to escape. Low hanging branches pulled at him from all sides. He was definitely leaving a trail. He tried to be more careful but it slowed his pace. If he stopped for even a moment, he was afraid he would never start again. His whole body ached terribly and cried for relief but he couldn't let up. If the pain had only been physical, he could have endured it. In his mind, he didn't know what was real anymore and worse didn't even know if he had escaped in the first place. The one true thing Dick wanted more than anything right now was the chance to see his family and friends, to be with them and to have this nightmare end. He burst out of the forest edge and came to an abrupt halt. Dick stared dumbfounded at the sky shimmering in the light. A wall, all this time it had been a wall. "Oh come on," he cried in frustration banging against the wall with his fists until they were sore and bloody. Leaning his forehead against the wall to rest, he jumped when a cool, soulless voice spoke from behind him.

"You won't be able to leave and it won't stop. Everything you knew is completely gone," the man said as his face twisted into a malicious smile. Dick shook his head .His brain wasn't ready to accept what the man said. He found himself fighting to keep upright and losing the battle. Finally, he fell to his knees.

"Looks like our guest is tired gentlemen," the man joked, the smile still very prominent on his face. "Perhaps you should help him."

The man snapped his fingers and thirteen towering dark figures materialized behind him. Dick's stomach threatened to rebel against him when the figures stepped into the light. There, in front of him, were thirteen identical Batmen. He squeezed his eyes shut waiting for what he was certain would happen next. Sure enough a stone fist made contact with the side of his head. Hit after hit followed and he sank to the ground unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

Bruce looked around Dick's ransacked apartment again. He had been searching for Dick for nearly two weeks. Roy came to Bludhaven to ask for Dick's help. Instead, Roy had found his friend's apartment exactly as it was now. Pieces of furniture were destroyed, and items were flung to the other side of the room. Roy immediately set off the warning bells, informing Bruce and others of the situation. As Bruce's eyes scanned the room, he came to a small pool of blood. Even after years of mastering his emotions, Bruce couldn't control the pain that ate at him now. Dick was gone, taken from everything he knew in an instant. But Bruce would do what he did best, work past this feeling and find his son.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of the bat communicator, "What have you found?" he asked, terrified of what the answer would be.

Superman's reply sent chills down his spine "I think you better see for yourself".

Bruce took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before he replied. "I'm on my way".


	3. Chapter 3

Alright so here's the deal behind this story. I had planned on just changing the status to complete and leaving it with the three chapters I had already uploaded. But after a little while I'd realized that I had rushed through a lot of this story and not taken my time with it. It was my first story posted on FanFiction and I felt the need to get it done fast. Now I'm uploading some of the story I had skipped over and planning to write a sequel. I hope it all works out well so here is a chapter of the time I skipped before Dick was found.

Since I forgot the disclaimer the first few chapters I don't own any of the characters. The story, however is mine.

Dick's eyes slowly fluttered open and he found himself staring up at a white plaster ceiling. He took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut again, trying to clear out the fog in his mind. Everything hurt but the pain was starting to lose its effect on him.

"I see someone's awake," a familiar female voice called cheerfully from the door of the room.

Dick groaned and laid a bandaged arm over his eyes; his hurt wasn't from any of injuries. He knew this woman was a part of the torture he had been made to endure for the past-God; he'd lost count of how long he'd been here. It wasn't her fault, of course. She didn't even realize what she'd been made to do. Struggling to smile, Dick lowered his arm and glanced up at the nurse standing at the foot of his bed. She was about his age with long, fiery red hair pulled up in a messy bun. Her skin was pale and her eyes were a soft hazel. She wore a pair of bright blue scrubs and was holding a chart in her hands. Dick was in the same hospital he had been in ten times previously. With the same nurse who had treated him seven of the ten times.

"Yeah," he replied in a cheery voice. But there still was a hint of sadness and hesitation in it that alerted her to something wrong. Dick flinched involuntarily at the undertone and waited for the nurse to pry further.

"How are you feeling?" she asked with not a hint of suspicion in her voice. Dick remained silent as she moved around him for a few minutes taking down his most recent medical information on his chart. When she was done, she clicked her pen shut and hung the chart back on the foot of his hospital bed.

"I'm fine." he replied and, again, he wasn't even able to believe himself. He inwardly cursed the injuries he'd sustained from this situation knowing they were the reason he wasn't able to lie convincingly.

"My names Pixie," she said holding out a hand for him to shake "but you can call me Pix." Dick cautiously took her extended hand and shook it never taking his eyes off of her face. He didn't tell her that he'd already noticed her name on the hospital card clipped to the neck of her scrubs. Or that she had already introduced herself seven times previously. He knew she wouldn't remember the last one. She nodded her head curtly, as if the handshake was the reaction she had been hoping for.

"You want to tell me why you're lying to me?" she asked in a no nonsense voice. Dick didn't even act surprised, he knew this was coming.

"I'm not," he told her managing this time to sound moderately convincing. She fixed him with a piercing gaze that seemed to dive inside his mind, looking for the truth. Pix's stare reminded Dick of the one's Bruce gave to his opponents before he took them out.

"Don't give me that," she said in a disappointed tone as if Dick insulted her intelligence. "I've been working in this hospital for a long time and I can tell when someone's trying to hide something."

Dick bowed his head at the reprimand like a ten year old being scolded by the teacher in class. It wasn't like him to be so submissive but during this entire process Pixie had been the only one to show him some sort of sincere compassion. All the other Artificial Intelligence being used in this game didn't have the self awareness that Pix seemed to have.

"I'm just tired," he told her heaving a large sigh. He released a great deal of tension that he'd been holding in. Her face softened slightly as he showed her the exhaustion in his body.

"Alright," she whispered softly, letting the matter drop. "Get some sleep."

Dick knew he would have to answer her eventually but right now he didn't care. As she left the room, Dick sank into his hospital bed. Even though the room seemed empty, he knew he was being watched closely. They had made the mistake of not monitoring him in the beginning. And that made it easy for him to get to the truth behind this vivid prison.

So this is the end but there will be more. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to Marcia Gore for commenting on the story I check for comments occasionally on my other stories and forgot about wanting to work on this story until you commented.


	4. Chapter 4

This Chapter is going to stay up and just get moved back if I need to include more story before it.

Batman was greeted by Superman outside of an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Bludhaven. Bruce was about to go in when he was stopped by Clark. "Bruce, don't jump to conclusions," he warned, "there could be other explanations for what went on in there."Clark's statement only intensified Bruce's worry but he hid it behind his cowl. He gave Clark an understanding nod before continuing inside. The warehouse looked like a bomb had exploded in it. Half of the room's contents had been demolished and its walls and roof contained gaping holes in them. Flash was bent over something in the center of the room examining it closely. Bruce cleared his throat to let Wally know he was there. When Wally was standing and facing Bruce, he shot him one of his famous glares.

"What?" Wally snapped. "I barely got everyone else out of here and, in case you have forgotten, I am a crime scene investigator."

"You're a lab tech," Bruce retorted, but Wally crossed his arms and fixed Bruce with a stare of his own, unwilling to budge.

"Fine," Bruce conceded, not willing to waste any more time arguing. "What have you found?" Wally stepped aside to show Bruce what was in the center of the room- a footprint embedded in the cement. Bruce began measurements; the foot was 14 inches long, 7 inches wide, and had gone 4 inches into the ground with ease. A glint of metal in the footprint caught Bruce's eye. He collected it before finishing his examination.

"What do you think made it?" Wally asked after Bruce had stood up.

"I'm not quite sure," Bruce replied, not needing to add that he would surely find out. "I need to go back to the Nightwing's headquarters to examine the sample."

The sound of the computer as it analyzed the metal was the only noise in the cave. Roy looked around at the tired faces of Dick's friends and family. Not one of them had slept since they had heard; and most likely wouldn't until Dick was found. Bruce hadn't moved away from the computer since it had begun its analysis. No matter how well Bruce thought he hid it, everyone knew he cared deeply for Dick. And even though at times his actions were questionable, they didn't seem to bother Dick.

When the analysis was finished, Roy shot to his feet. They huddled around as Bruce studied the results for a minute, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"What's the matter?" Clark asked when he saw Bruce's expression.

"The metal that we found was one hundred percent copper," Bruce explained.

"Why would anyone use copper for anything?" Roy asked "It's too expensive and hard to keep safe."

"Mabye, but one thing is for sure," Wally added, "it's easy to track large copper shipments."

"If the copper was obtained legitimately," Clark replied a strange feeling of uneasiness coming over him.

Bruce had been silent for a minute, going over this new information in his head. "Wally, do a search for moderate to large shipments of copper going back as far as you can."

"Right," Wally mumbled, going to use one of the many computers in the cave. Bruce set to work on the computer in front of him, setting the analysis aside.

"What are you doing Bruce?" Clark asked.

"I'm checking police reports for large copper theft in a small area," Bruce explained.

"Think they would be that careless?" Roy asked.

"I don't know," Bruce replied.

Hours later they had compiled a stack of papers with the needed information and were going through them. They were marking where the copper was delivered and stolen on a giant map of Bludhaven. The cave was nearly empty now, most search parties having already left.

"All right," Tim sighed "most of the shipments and robberies occurred around this area." He circled the area several times with his finger and looked up at the others around the table.

"Than we should check it out," Roy said.

"Thank you for the obvious Roy," Wally said his voice etched with sarcasm.

"Now is not the time, Wally," Donna chided.

"It wasn't just me," Wally muttered.

"Ah yes, because I stated the obvious I'm hindering our investigation," Roy replied sarcastically.

"Guys, Donna's right. This is not helping." Garth snapped.

"Regardless of whether it was obvious or not, Roy was right," Clark said in a calm, quiet voice "Let's go." It was 2 am when they reached another warehouse on the docks. They surrounded the building, not wanting to spook anyone inside. From the rafters, Bruce spotted six guys all with p-90's. He signaled to the others and they moved in. Clark swooped in knocking one guy out and using his gun to knock another out. Bruce handled the other three with ease, his anger beginning to show.

Bruce grabbed one of the men by his collar "Where is he?" he growled.

"Where's who?" the man asked, smiling.

"You know who," Bruce yelled punctuating every word with a punch. Bruce continued like that for a minute, everyone too shocked to stop him.

Clark grabbed Bruce's arm before he could punch the man again. "Bruce stop," he whispered. They all stood like that for a minute blown away by Bruce's show of emotion.

"Guys, in here," Ollie yelled, snapping everyone out of it. They all went through a room to the back leaving what Bruce had done behind.

Ollie and Hal stood by a large wooden door in the middle of a meat locker.

"Think they could pick something a little less conspicuous," Ollie grumbled.

Hal snorted. "When have they ever not been conspicuous?"

"Good point," Ollie conceded as the others came in. "What took you so long?" Ollie asked, irritated.

"A little delay," Clark said. "What've you got?" Ollie pointed to the door behind him.

"Tell me that's not weird," Ollie said.

"Then let's go," Diane said, pushing past everyone and opening the door. The door lead to a staircase that wound downward like the ones used in a cave tour. They descended the staircase for five minutes before they came across something. Though the stairs went further underground, they also stopped in a large cave. Cutting through the center of the cave was a river that ran deep and fast.

"Now what," Aquaman asked.

"Now we search," Clark replied, they all began to spread out but stopped dead when they heard Wally cuss harshly.

"He's over here!" Wally yelled "Hurry." Clark and Diane were the first to reach Wally and Dick followed by Bruce. Dick's Nightwing costume, which he was wearing when he disappeared, was replaced by hospital clothes. But they weren't helping much; the hospital wear was tattered, making it useless. Dick's skin was a pale blue tint with bruises and cuts all over his body. Bones in his arm and leg had punctured his skin. Dick's eyes were closed and his lips had turned blue.

Shaking, Wally took off one of his gloves and put his fingers to Dick's neck. "He's got a pulse," he announced, and the group let out a collective breath they didn't realize they had been holding. "But it's weak. We need to get him out of here." Bruce was beginning to see red as he stared down at the limp form of his son. Someone was definitely going to pay.

"Flash you and the others get Nightwing to the watchtower," Bruce said walking back to the stairs.

"Batman," Clark yelled jogging to reach him "you are not going down there alone."

"And don't think your leaving me here," Diane added walking up to them. Bruce looked from Clark to Diane and back again, seeing firm resolution in both of their faces.

"No," Bruce said matter-of-factly before descending the stairs further into the ground.

"To bad because we're coming," Clark said before following Bruce, Diane right behind him. "The rest of you get Dick out of here," Clark yelled over his shoulder, not bothering to listen to their complaints. They continued down the stairs for fifteen minutes in complete silence before reaching the end. They were in another large cave filled with technology and medical equipment. "If I didn't know better," Clark said "I would have thought this was your cave Batman."

"J'onn," Diane called through a communicator "can you read us?"

"I have your signal Diane," J'onn replied "no need to worry."

Diane looked over at Bruce who was busy searching the room "trust me J'onn, there is reason to worry."

Clark picked up a table looking for someone under it. Instead he found a bomb. He looked at the timer and was even more alarmed to see they only had 10 seconds. "J'onn get us out of here," Clark yelled into the earpiece. The deserted cave was taken from their view and replaced by the watchtowers walls.

"Why did you do that?" Bruce asked angrily.

"Because there was a bomb in there," Clark snapped back. Bruce gave him one last glare before heading for the watchtower infirmary. Sighing, Clark turned to Diane. "He's angry, isn't he?"

"What gave you that impression?" she asked. When he looked down with regret Diane sighed. "He's upset. Give him some time." J'onn joined them shortly afterwards and they made their way to the infirmary. When they entered, the first thing they noticed was the silence; there was no sound except for the beeping a of a heart monitor. They walked up to the little cluster of people that were surrounding a bed in the back of the infirmary. Dick lay hooked up to countless machines almost as pale as the bed sheets. All of his cuts had been healed and almost all of his bluish tint had disappeared. Bruce occupied the seat closest to Dick and was staring at him intently.

"They say he's in no immediate danger," Wally sighed pinching the bridge of his nose "but he suffered a concussion that made him slip into a coma."

"And he's not waking up anytime soon," Roy concluded. A silence once again fell over the group as the turned to look at the only occupant of the infirmary.

Footage of the cave just before it exploded was playing on a screen. Sitting across from each other at a large table were two men.

"They didn't find anything?" the one on the right asked.

"Nothing; not enough time," the one on the left replied.

"Good," the one on the right said.

"What if he wakes up, he'll tell them what we did?" the one on the left asked.

"By the time he does we'll have already completed our research," the one on the right replied. "I must say I'm impressed Dr. Greeves," the man on the right said.

"Thank you, Dr. Crane," the man on the left replied.

It was midnight the next night and almost everyone had left Dick's side and gone home. Bruce was now the only one left of the group in the infirmary. He sat by Dick's side, holding his hand and watching the heart monitor. Bruce was so distracted he didn't even notice when Clark came in the room. "It's late, Bruce," Clark said "you need to get some sleep." Bruce didn't reply; he just kept on stroking Dick's hand with his thumb. Clark sighed, realizing he wouldn't be able to make Bruce move. "I'm sorry, Bruce," Clark whispered before heading home.

After a few minutes, Bruce got up from his seat and went to the storage cabinet in the corner. He garbed a pillow and blanket and set it on the bed next to Dick's. He walked over to Dick and smoothed his hair back, placing a kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, son," he whispered before going to sit on his bed. Bruce fell asleep listening to the steady rhythm of his son's heart.

**A few final notes I didn't know what Aquaman's real name was I think it's Arthur but I'm not sure**

**P-90's might have been too heavy a gun but that's really the only gun I know**

**And this is the end of this story I might write more in the future **


End file.
